Is genocide, or in the case of Ender's Game where an entire alien race is annihilated, xenocide, ever justified? Was the xenocide of the Buggers inevitable? Why?Use the text to support your answer. Include page numbers.

Chapter 14
We believe that the killing of an entire race was actually justified, and done for a good reason. The reason we think this is because everyone believed that the buggers were going to attack a third time. If we got attacked a third time, and even with a strategy genius like Ender, we wouldn’t be able to survive a third invasion. We think that xenocide of the buggers could have been avoided. We think this because the buggers were never going to attack a third time. They were only trying to figure out how the humans work and interact with each other. The text states, “Ender grabbed Mazer’s uniform and hung onto it, pulling him down so they were face to face. ‘I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!’ He was crying. He was out of control,” (Card 297,298). Ender didn’t want to kill the buggers, but he was tricked into it. He was ashamed at what he had done, and finally believed that he was a killer.

Reply

Troop 9

11/14/2014 12:30pm

No genocide or in this case xenocide is never acceptable. The mass killing of anything is not human, and we should always provide compassion. It is one thing to react in self-defense, and another thing to kill a entire species, but the xenocide of the Buggers was inevitable. They attacked Earth and killed many humans. Earth was bound to attack again and avenge their fallen comrades. They were so blinded by their hate for the buggers; the IF was not so blinded by hate for the buggers. They could have thought about their decision to kill the entire race of Buggers.

Reply

Troop 1

11/14/2014 12:30pm

No, genocide or xenocide isn’t ever justified. No matter why someone or a group of people commit a genocidal (xenocidal) crime, it is never a good enough reason to be justified. The xenocide of Buggers could have been avoided if the humans tried to communicate and come to a mutual understand. The logic humanity used was ignorant, they decided to end all battles instead of seeing the other side’s point of view. “End them or end us”(Card 296). “It’s what had to happen”(Card 297). These quotes are how the adults justified the xenocide, but Ender was never okay with it. “I didn’t want to kill them all”(Card 297), Ender says this in an argument over the war, he knew it was wrong.

Reply

Troop 8

11/14/2014 12:35pm

In Ender’s Game, xenocide was carried out, or justified, because Ender blew up the bugger’s planet. This was definitely inevitable because Ender killing off all the buggers in the end was the government and International Fleets’ entire plan from the start; their reasoning for having Ender’s parents have a Third. He was born in hopes that he could carry out the destruction of the entire bugger race. As stated in the text, “...Battle School is one of those worse things. But we need you,” (Card 54). In this context, Graff is explaining to Ender that he needed to go to Battle School to become what they hoped he would. Later, in chapter 14 after Ender beats the buggers, Mazer explains “They’ll never attack us again. You did it. You,” (Card 297). Ender realizes that he has fulfilled his life purpose, and the fact that all his previous battles were real prepared him for his life goal. He finally did it, and Mazer expressed that to him greatly.

Reply

MU

11/14/2014 12:36pm

In this situatuion, xenocide was justified and done for a good reason. The buggers have already attacked twice and have killed many human beings. The teachers of the Battle School believed that this would happen for a third time and that would not survive if they did not do something about it. Although it was justified, it could have been avoided. Ender did not need to kill all of the buggers and he knew it was wrong to wipe out an entire race. In the text it states, “I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer!” (Card 297). This proves that Ender felt guilty about killing all of the buggers and knew it was wrong.

Reply

Troop 5

11/14/2014 12:36pm

The genocide of an entire alien race is justified in the case of Enders game, because the xenocide of the Buggers inevitable. First off, Ender was unaware that he was murdering an entire species (Card 296). Also, even if the teachers didn’t trick Ender into killing the Bugger’s through a game simulation, the Buggers would have to be killed some other way. The teachers would have found another way to kill them. Lastly, Ender was able to keep some of the species alive (Card 324). He went to keep on looking for a place for the last of the species that he wiped out.

Reply

Troop 7

11/14/2014 12:38pm

Genocide can be justified. Genocide can be justified because the humans thought that these aliens were dangerous and proposed a threat. The xenocide of the Buggers was not inevitable. The humans could have studied them and taken time to learn about them, but it was too dangerous. Although the chance was small, humans could have lived peacefully with the buggers, if only they took the time to study them. The text states, “ ‘I killed them all, didn’t I?’ Ender asked. ‘All who?’ asked Graff. ‘The buggers? that was the idea.’ Mazer leaned in close. ‘That’s what the war was for.’ ‘All their queens. So I killed all their children, all of everything.’ ” (Card 297). This text states how Ender reacted toward the killing of all the buggers. This shows how xenocide was not necessary, because Ender was mad that he did that and if he at least left a few alive it would be better.

Reply

Troop 2

11/14/2014 12:38pm

No, genocide and xenocide are never justified. In Ender’s Game, the humans had a reason to attack for self protection, but this isn’t always the case. The Third Invasion by the humans was entirely unprovoked. Even in Ender’s Game, Ender really hadn’t meant to kill all of the buggers. Ender thought it was just a simulation, and if he had known it was real, he would have acted differently. The text stated, “‘I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!’” (Card 297). Also, just because some of the buggers wanted to attack humans, it doesn’t mean all of them wanted to. Wiping out the entire population was not necessary. However, the xenocide of the buggers was inevitable. Even though the buggers didn’t understand that they were hurting people, humans didn’t realize this. Humans thought that the buggers were trying to kill everyone, even though they weren’t. As a result, it was always their goal to defeat the buggers, no matter what.

Reply

Troop 3

11/14/2014 12:38pm

The xenocide in Ender’s Game is not justified because Ender was tricked into killing all of the buggers. He can’t do anything to undo what he has done and there was no way possible to revive any of the buggers. The xenocide of the buggers was not inevitable because if Ender had known that he was fighting the buggers instead of being tricked into it, he probably would not have committed xenocide and killed the entire alien race and their planet. “ “I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer… you tricked me into it” ” (Card 297). Ender shows that even though his intent was not to mass murder a species, he couldn’t avoided it, as he didn’t know that it wasn’t a simulation.

Reply

KR

11/16/2014 5:11pm

No, genocide, or in this case xenocide, is not acceptable in any way shape or form. The Buggers annihilation wasn’t inevitable, and it could’ve been stopped. If Ender knew what the real deal of the simulators were, he might’ve stopped and thought about how the way the Buggers might feel. The IF was keeping many things from him, and lying to him. The buggers weren’t the ones on offense, the IF was talking the ball and going on offense. From what we know, the Buggers weren’t even planning on attacking Earth after their unsuccessful First and Second Invasions on Earth. They wanted peace, but the IF insisted that they all be destroyed and annihilated. “‘I’m not a killer! You didn’t want me, you bastards, you wanted Peter, but you made me do it, you tricked me into it!” (Card 342). This shows the anger that Ender is having towards the IF. If the IF hadn’t lied to Ender, things may have been different. The xenocide of Buggers wouldn’t be inevitable. In conclusion, xenocide is never acceptable in any way shape or form, and the xenocide of the Buggers wasn’t inevitable and could’ve been stopped.

Reply

Troop 4

11/16/2014 8:53pm

We believe that the attack on the buggers was not justified because after the buggers were destroyed, it caused wars and conflict on Earth. We know this because in the text it says, “ ‘We’re trying to tell you,. They’re going to start a war. Americans claiming the Warsaw Pact is about to attack... The bugger war isn’t twenty-four hours dead, and the world down there is back to fighting again, as bad as ever’ ” (Card 299). Yes, we think it was inevitable to happen because the Buggers were going to come back one more time at some point to end the war, and since Earth was so prepared, they would’ve had the same result which was a mass xenocide of the buggers. We also think it was inevitable because the buggers were getting weaker and weaker after each attack.

Reply

LC

11/17/2014 6:23pm

No, Genocide or Xenocide is never justified. You can never commit genocide and get away with it. It is is extremely wrong, and is never right. I believe that the destruction of the buggers was bound to happen, considering that they couldn’t communicate with the humans. Since the humans were unable to communicate, there was no way to figure things out. The text states, “All their queens. So I killed all their children, all of everything… I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer” (Card 297)! This proves that Ender thinks that Genocide (or Xenocide) is never okay. Even he cared for the Buggers who were his Enemy, and he never wanted to kill anyone.

Reply

N.K.

11/29/2014 1:40pm

Genocide, or in the case of Ender’s Game, xenocide should never be justified. It is incredibly inhumane even when annihilating an entire race of aliens. But in the book, Mazer Rackham had to justify it to Ender. “‘They [buggers] decided that [xenocide] when they attacked us. It wasn’t your fault. It had to happen.’” (Card 297) Mazer Rackham was justifying the xenocide that Ender had just committed to make Ender not feel guilty. The xenocide of the buggers wasn’t inevitable, it could have been avoided. I believe the whole reason it did happen was because Ender was tricked into it and the leaders of Earth were very impulsive and afraid. They just wanted to get rid of their problems without even getting to know them. The buggers did not have any intention of invading Earth again, it was us who invaded them. And when the buggers did invade earlier, they were just confused on how to communicate with us and were trying to interact with us. Ender felt very angry and guilty for killing the buggers. “‘I didn’t want to kill them all. I didn’t want to kill anybody! I’m not a killer! ...’” (Card 297) The human race was very ignorant in this situation. This mass killing could have been avoided if the humans took the time to try to get to know the buggers and come to a mutual understanding with them.